So the forecast was dead on. We started the day heading south, and was going to follow the coast, but due to the direction of the waves, we headed more southwest, into the waves, which was a smoother ride. This trip was a little over 52 miles and took us about 7.5 hours.
This was also our first stop outside Michigan in 40-some days! Hammond is actually part of the Chicago metropolitan area. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the 2010 United States census, it is also the largest in population: the 2010 population was 80,830, replacing Gary as the most populous city in Lake County, Indiana.
We made reservations as we were crossing the lake. They had instructed us to pull to the gas dock and they would check us in from there. This was good, as we wanted to top off our tanks before getting to Chicago. Diesel price in Hammond was $2.99, compared to $3.99 or more in Chicago; considering we hold almost 500 gallons, this was a significant savings. We only had to put in a little over 200 gallons, but still it saved us money.
The marina we were in was quite large, with lots of Loopers there. In hind sight, it was silly to go here, except for the diesel price, but we did get to add another state to our list of visits <Ohio (1 day), Canada (2 days), Michigan (40 days!) and now Indiana (1 day)>. I say this because Chicago was almost the same distance, but it did make for a more comfortable ride across Lake Michigan heading a little south. The marina was in casino complex, and was not listed as being pet friendly- this was because the walk to get to any grass was quite long. We did take Frank for a long walk though, so he could frolic in the grass and along a beach, although they did have fake grass mats by the restrooms for dogs.
Since we had stocked up in St. Joseph, there was no need to leave the marina. There also was nothing remotely close to the marina, so this was fine with us. We had dinner and watched some Cleveland Indians, and got online to make our reservation in Chicago Harbor. Not much else to talk about, as this was just an overnight stay before heading to Chicago.
The weather tomorrow looks a little iffy, but we only have to travel about 15 miles to the north. The wind is supposed to be out of the west, which means it will be on our beam, which can make for an uncomfortable ride. We will see what we wake up to and decide from there. One of these days soon, we will have to drop the mast so we can go down the Chicago River, but we will wait until we get to Chicago to do this.